Convention center aims to improve to keep up

Sunday

Jun 15, 2014 at 12:01 AMJun 15, 2014 at 2:21 PM

The sales pitches from convention-center officials in Cleveland and Cincinnati to the Ohio Dental Association come repeatedly and are increasingly tempting as these cities up their games - and facilities. "Cincinnati and Cleveland are courting us," said Suzanne Brooks, the dental association's director of meetings and conventions.

Steve Wartenberg, The Columbus Dispatch

The sales pitches from convention-center officials in Cleveland and Cincinnati to the Ohio Dental Association come repeatedly and are increasingly tempting as these cities up their games — and facilities.

“Cincinnati and Cleveland are courting us,” said Suzanne Brooks, the dental association’s director of meetings and conventions. “We have folks trying to lure us away from Columbus.”

This is why she believes the proposed $125 million plan to renovate and expand the Greater Columbus Convention Center is the dental equivalent of regular flossing and cleanings — and will keep the group’s meetings here.

The project is to include a complete face-lift of the 24-year-old building, the addition of 36,000 square feet of exhibit space, a digital antenna system to improve cellphone reception, and construction of an 800-space parking garage on the north side of Goodale Street.

“The convention center is starting to show its age, and instead of waiting until it’s tattered and worn, they’re being proactive in refreshing it and adding new amenities,” Brooks said. “It’s the old bell-curve thing; you can’t wait until you’re on the downside of the curve and losing business.”

Staying on the right side of the curve to retain events and attract new groups and bigger, national meetings and sporting events to Columbus is the goal of the renovation, said Bill Jennison, executive director of the Franklin County Convention Facilities Authority.

For example, he said, the annual meeting of the Archery Trade Association has outgrown the convention center. It was last here in 2012.

“When we’re at 375,000 square feet of exhibit space, we’ll be big enough for them again,” Jennison said of the expansion. “The competition is fierce, and this renovation will allow us to compete even better.”

“Cleveland’s as competitive as it’s ever been,” said Matt MacLaren, CEO of the Ohio Hotel and Lodging Association. He was there last week for the opening of the Westin Cleveland Downtown near the new convention center.

“And it’s not just Cleveland,” he said. “Nashville just opened a new convention center, and Pittsburgh and Indianapolis have just made improvements.”

Louisville, Ky., and Milwaukee, Wis., also have plans to expand their convention centers, said Brian Ross, CEO of Experience Columbus.

“In order to stay competitive, this is something that’s needed,” he said of the renovation project, which requires the approval of the county commissioners.

Convention centers that stand still lose ground.

“There’s always a rush to the latest and newest, a buzz that comes with being new, and groups say they have to get their event there,” said John Page, a general manager of SMG, the national facility-management company that manages the convention center here.

Thirty-One Gifts will hold one of its national meetings here in July and in 2015 — and maybe in future years.

“We feel these improvements — more parking and more space — will enhance the appeal of the center and should have a positive influence on our consideration for future conferences in Columbus,” said CEO Cindy Moore.

The renovation’s design phase is to begin this summer, and the project is to be completed in phases over two to three years, Jennison said.

It wouldn’t hurt the city’s bid for the 2016 Democratic National Convention, he said. “We’d work our construction around their dates,” he said.

Ross believes the project will enhance the city’s bid. “We don’t know what will happen over the next two years,” he said. “They may grow and need more space, and we’ll have more room for them to grow.”

Brooks said the renovated convention center, additional parking spaces and central location in the state should meet the needs of the dental association’s annual meeting, which attracts about 5,000 people.

Previously, the group kept attendees bottled up inside the convention center and Hyatt.

“We didn’t want people going out,” she said. “That’s not the case anymore. Columbus has come so far in 20 years, and the Short North and Arena District are so vibrant ... it’s a happening place right outside the doors of the convention center.”

swartenberg@dispatch.com

@stevewartenberg

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